Something Terrible, Something Good
by troublewillfindme
Summary: Sometimes you need something terrible to happen to find out who truly cares for you...


It was freezing outside. I couldn't even feel my hands. I pulled my coat tighter around myself, and knocked on the front door. I was in the middle of knocking when the door was opened by Jason. He stumbled and greeted me with a giant hug.

"Hey sis," he said. I could smell the alcohol on him.

"Whoa, Bro," I said, as he leaned all his weight into me. He was quite heavy. "Erm... help?" I asked quietly of no-one in particular. It was Eric who appeared behind him.

"Jason, you're flattening your little sister," he said, lifting him from me without breaking a sweat. Jason turned and wrapped his arm around Eric's shoulder. "That's it. No more drinks with the boys for you."

"I ain't that bad..." Jason slurred.

"Yeah, you're worse. I dread to think what Sookie is going to have to deal with, once she sees Bill." He helped Jason down the steps slowly, then turned to look at me. "Bill's inside, Sookie. Be warned: He's had a lot to drink."

I smile down at him, thankful for the warning. "Thanks for the warning, Eric. You two take care now. Make sure my brother get's home safely."

I push the door closed behind myself. I was still hugging my red trench coat around myself. I had spent the day with Tara in bridal shops, then a bit later we went out for a celebratory dinner. Bill and I were engaged, and we were getting married next month. I was so excited. I wasn't one of those girls who dreamed of the big wedding when she was younger, but when seeing all the dresses, I really got into it. I couldn't wait for Bill to be my husband. I walked into the kitchen and thanked God Almighty that one of the boys had been considerate enough to clean the place up. Bill had a celebratory get-together with all his close friends, including my drunk brother. I got upstairs and turned the handle to get into our bedroom. The light was off, so I flicked it on. What I saw made my heart stop.

My hands fell over my chest, gripping at my heart underneath my coat. My eyes filled with tears. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Bill was in bed, but he wasn't alone. Clothes were flung around carelessly on the floor. Her dress. Her heels. Bill was in bed, with her. Lorena. His ex-girlfriend. Though I didn't know much about her, I instantly despised her from the get-go. We had run into her one afternoon, and I remember she had the most funniest look on her face, when she saw the way Bill and I were holding hands. She looked filled with unconditional despair and jealousy. Guess she still wanted Bill so badly, she didn't care if she ruined my life in the process.

"Shit," he gasped, when the light covered them. His bare back was facing me, and he lifted himself off her to look back at me. His eyes widened. "Sookie!"

He grabbed the sheet off the bed to cover himself, and started scrambling off the bed. Unfortunately, as he dragged the sheet with him in all his desperation, it showed Lorena's entire bare body.

I just stood there, frozen, unable to move from shock. Son of a bitch.

"What the hell is this?" I got out, in the most even voice I could manage.

"Sookie, please." Bill fell to his knees in front of me. He tried to grab my hand, but I whipped it away. "I... I can explain, sweetheart. It isn't what it looks like."

I almost burst out laughing. What a typical excuse. "Isn't what it looks like, Bill Compton? Oh, well. I find that extremely hard to believe..."

"I do love you," he said quietly in a whimper.

"Well, it sure as hell doesn't look like it."

"Sweetheart, I do. You know I do."

"I came home," I whispered hoarsely, from the hurt. "I came home from a day of checking out bridal wear to find my husband-to-be... like this..."

I stared over at Lorena, who didn't even have the decency to cover herself up. Stupid bitch.

"Sookie, please. I am drunk. I did not know what I was doing at the time. Surely you can understand that. Sweetheart, please." He got up from his knees to stand over me. He was panting loudly, and looked ashen. He looked, simply put, like a pathetic man caught-out.

"You were drunk?" I repeated loudly, finding my voice again. "What excuse is next? Oh, you fell into her? She seduced you?"

"Sookie, please."

"You know what? I can't deal with this, Bill. I just can't." I slid off my engagement ring, and with all the force I could muster, I flung it at him. "I guess this is all worthless now, huh?"

"I am so sorry, sweetheart. Eric and your brother were over. I got a little tipsy, and next thing I knew, Lorena showed up. Eric told us to go upstairs together. I don't know why she showed up. Maybe Eric had something to do with that? I never called her over, I swear."

"Oh, please," I scoffed. "Don't try to blame Eric for this. This is your fault, so take it like a man, Bill. Don't just stand there and lie to my face, please."

"Sweetheart," he started again softly, and he raised his hand to touch my cheek. I stepped back, out of the way.

"I can't even stand looking at you," I told him, and my heart broke all over again. "You don't do this to the woman you supposedly love. Now you... you disgust me. You absolutely disgust me, and to think we were getting married next month..." I took in a deep breath, tossing my head. "You are pathetic. Our marriage is off."

"Sookie, don't do this. I didn't know what was happening. Eric must've-"

"Please don't." I laughed bitterly through my teeth. "I am not that foolish and stupid to believe that. You don't deserve me. I would never do this to you. I am not that despicable that I would just fuck my ex and forget about my wife-to-be."

" I don't know what happened. Sookie, please. I love you. I love you more than anybody could ever possibly love anyone."

"And yet, you did this to me. How is this showing your love?" I reached out to touch his cheek with my hand. I sighed pitifully as I stroked around his cheek tenderly with my fingertips. I had loved him. I had gave him my all, and he swore he had loved me, too. Yet, he goes and does this to me with... with... her? "The wedding is off, Bill. You broke it by doing this. I don't want to marry a man who can't be faithful to me. This is the end."

And so, I got straight down to business, trying to be as dignified as possible despite the unpleasant and unexpected situation. The skank, Lorena, just laid on the bed, covering her arms over her breasts, as she watched on with probably somewhat sick amusement as I started gathering my things and shoving them into a suitcase. I couldn't see any other way to handle this. I had to get out, away from Bill, and quickly. I supposed I would go to Tara's house and sleep there for a while. I knew she wouldn't mind if I did, and she would support me, and listen to me while I cried my heart out for a bit. Then hopefully, she would bitch about Bill with me, and we'd have a rocking great time. Tara was a great bitcher. I knew she would take me in without a second's worth of thought. Tara was a wonderful friend.

Bill stood around me, trying to get me into being reasonable with sweet words as I threw all my clothes into my suitcase.

"Honey, please. Can't we get passed this? I love you, and it will never happen again. I swear to you it won't." The last straw came for me when he got down on his knees again, sobbing, and tried to push his head up against my stomach. The sheet fell off his body, and he was still naked. Ugh.

"I'm done here, Bill," I muttered down at him, listening to his chest-racketing sobs and pleas. "I mean it. Put yourself in my position: Would you really let go of any self-respect you have, and forgive me, if I ever did the same thing?" I knew he wouldn't. He would have done exactly the same thing I was doing now. "If I had cheated on you, say... with Eric, you'd react the same way I was, right?" He sniffled loudly at my legs. "So, let me go." I turned to look fleetingly at his whore, who was still naked on the bed. "Have fun with my ex-fiancé, you stupid, life-crushing tramp."

I turned and raced out of the room, clutching onto the handle of the suitcase tightly, feeling the tears streaking down my cheeks. Just like I thought he would, Bill ran after me.

"Sookie, please! Sookie, wait!"

I got out the front door, hopped into my car, and drove away from him in my life, drove away from my potential future with him, my everything.

On the drive to Tara's, I couldn't help wondering about how my future could have gone with Bill. We had talked about it. We both seemed to have things in common. We wanted to have children together. We wanted to grow old together. He had ruled a huge section of my life, and now I was going to have to learn how to let him go.

When I pulled into Tara's drive, I checked my phone. I had four missed calls, and eight text messages. I knew who they were from. Ugh, whatever. I knew what they were going to say. Wiping my eyes and taking in a deep breath, I deleted them all, even his number.

Life can change so quickly. And I felt almost ready for the change.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning in Tara's bed, I felt so exhausted from crying all night. Tara came in with two mugs of hot coffee, which was exactly what I found myself needing. She sat carefully beside me and handed one to me. I wrapped my hands tightly around the mug, and breathed in the steam.

"God, Tara. It really happened last night, didn't it?" I asked her weakly.

She smiled softly, and stroked my hair to comfort me. "Sorry, Sook. It did. He's a dirty, low piece of shit."

"Thanks for having me over. I love that I can count on you."

"No problem. It isn't me you should be thanking, though. Thank the poor woman that had to crash on the couch so that we could sleep in the same bed together."

"Oh, Pam," I whispered, instantly feeling guilty. Tara and her girlfriend, Pam, had been dating for two months now. "You think she'll be angry with me?"

"Nah," Tara said, rubbing my back. Then she laughed. "She'll get over it. I filled her in about what happened, hope you don't mind. She's pissed off at Bill herself. She's even contemplating killing him. She was thinking of castrating him, then shoving his balls down his throat so he chokes on them."

I laughed, rubbing my eyes. Tara always knew all the ways to brighten my mood.

"I'm kind of happy in a sense, but I'm also sad," I told her, after a moment. "I'm happy I stood up for myself, and that I could see through all his bullcrap. Then I feel so sad and betrayed on another level, because I had loved Bill."

"Sook, that's perfectly natural. Hell, I'd feel that way, too."

"I'm just glad it didn't happen_ after_ we got married. It would have been way worse."

"Don't worry, Sook. You'll find someone eventually who will treat you as the absolute princess that you are."

"I see this also as a chance for change. I feel like I need to change, Tara. I want a change."

"Change how?" she asked nervously.

"Just my attitude to life in general," I told her, looking at her seriously. "The way I am."

"Bitch, you don't need to change," she said, hugging me. "It's Bill that does. The bastard needs a serious reality check. He had the best thing with you."

"Clearly not. It didn't stop him from throwing his filthy penis into her grotty vag like there's no tomorrow, did it?"

Tara unwounded her arms from me slowly, standing up. She smiled down at me apologetically. "I better go check on Pam."

"No worries, Tara. I'll be just fine." But soon as she left, the tears were coming again. I took a soothing sip of coffee, smiled at the goodness of caffeine, and set it on the drawers near the bed carefully. Then I sprawled out diagonally across the bed and mashed my face into the pillow.

The bedroom door creaked open and, before I knew it, someone was falling on the bed near me. I opened my eyes and almost had a heart attack.

"Jesus Christ, Eric," I laughed, feeling my heart thumping away, "Learn to knock, why don't you?"

He was lying sprawled out over the covers, his head propped up with a hand underneath his chin. "Pam let me in, and I heard what happened."

"Oh," I murmured, my voice flat.

He wrapped his long warm arms around me, and pulled my face into his shirt. We laid there for what felt like hours, none of us bothering to talk. I smiled softly into his shirt, thankful I had someone to comfort me in my time of need.

"Are you all right?" he asked, after a bit.

"I'm better now that I'm getting hugged," I breathed, grinning. "Was it true? Did that bitch actually just show up while he was drunk, or what?" I turned my face up towards his chin, trying to get more comfortable. He smelled so good. I didn't know why he did, but that smell overwhelmed me. Maybe it was the aftershave he was wearing? The necklace he was wearing had fallen out from underneath the shirt he was wearing, so I yanked on it a bit to prompt him into explaining. "Tell me, please. I need to know. Did he call her himself?"

"He called her."

It confirmed my worst suspicions. Of course he did.

"And then what happened? She came over, and they went upstairs and screwed?"

"I was downstairs talking to your brother when she came in. They went upstairs together, and didn't return."

"Then why didn't you say anything?" I demanded, my voice uneven from all my hurt and frustration. "You probably knew what was going to happen if they went upstairs to the bedroom, right?"

"I didn't think they would actually end up having sex. I didn't know Bill was that... low."

"Well, he is, obviously."

He tightened his arms over me, and then he rolled over, putting me on my back. He held himself above me with his left arm near my shoulder on the mattress and I... I almost felt tempted. It was a pretty sexual position, if you're into missionary. His necklace was dangling near my chest, so I wrapped my fingers around it tightly to pull his body down and closer. I slid one arm over his back, while my other hand roamed, going up underneath his shirt, feeling around. I needed his warm skin right now, I needed contact from someone. I wanted to know I was still desirable to a man, and he responded by running one of his hands up and down my right leg.

"Do you think she's better than me?" I asked, though I was afraid of knowing what his answer might be to that.

"No one is better than you," he said, without missing a beat.

I smiled and laughed. "Smart answer." And then I started wondering... wondering why I hadn't noticed how great of a guy Eric was. He was good-looking, very, _very_ much so, and always nice to me, and smart. Why was I so blind when it came to Bill?

I looked up at him, he was looking down at me and smiling. I smiled back, as much as I could, then reached between us to undo the fastening on his jeans. I heard him make a noise, and felt his hand grip over my wrist tightly to stop me.

"What are you doing?" he asked, panting.

"What?" I asked, trying to get my hand free. But his hold was just far too strong for me.

"I'm not going to be your rebound sex, Sookie. I know you're feeling emotional and everything. But no. Just... no. "

"Then why are you here?"

"To be a friend. That's it."

I slowly moved up and pressed my lips into his, closing my eyes tightly. His mouth was still, at first, but then he began to respond. Slowly, he let go of my hand and brought his up to my face, stroking my cheek with his thumb. Then his lips parted, and he obliged, allowing my tongue entrance. I ran my tongue all around his mouth before breaking away, and gliding my hands towards the buttons on his shirt.

"Don't," Eric panted warmly into my lips, and then quickly, he sat up and pushed himself away. He stared at me, breathing heavily, then licked his lips and ran his hand over his chin.

"I want to," I said, staring into his eyes desperately.

"You might now, but you'll come to regret it. You're emotional over Bill, that's it."

Once I thought about it more rationally, I realized, _damn it_, he was right.

"You're right," I whispered morosely. "I'm sorry."

There came shocking noise from downstairs. I could hear Pam and Tara yelling at someone.

Eric and I looked at each other. Eric was almost bursting with excitement. "You've gotta love crazy lesbians," he muttered underneath his breath, and I laughed. "Come on," he said, standing off the bed and holding his hand out to me. "Let's go check what all the ruckus is about."

Without hesitation, I took his hand, interlaced our fingers, and we hurried downstairs.

Soon as we got downstairs, I really wished I hadn't. Bill was standing in the living room, looking a little worse for wear. His dark hair was uncombed, and he looked exhausted from lack of sleep. His eyes fell onto me the instance we got in. Tara slipped in closer to me. "Sweetheart," he breathed in relief. "I have gone out of my mind, sick with worry for you. May we talk alone in privacy?" He shot meaningful glance around the room; First at Pam, then at Tara, then lingeringly, at Eric.

Eric stepped in. "I don't believe that would be a very good idea, Bill. Sookie needs some time."

Bill's eyes flared with anger. "I hardly believe this is any of your fucking business," he spat out, "This is between my fiancée, and I."

"Bill, please leave," I pleaded desperately. I was not in the mood to see him now. He gave out a sign of exasperation. I was finding myself thankful there was a man around, like Eric.

"Bill, you heard her," Eric said forcefully. "She wants you to leave, so leave. You've done enough. You've already hurt her enough, and she wants her space."

"What would you know about what my fiancée would want? I would like to have a conversation with her, like two civilized adults would here!"

"Bill, I don't want to talk," I snapped, furious and worried. "We talked last night, and I told you how it is."

Before I could tell what was happening Bill reached out to grab me, and he was being pushed back away from me with such strength I was surprised whichever one of the two girl's could manage it. Only I quickly found out it was not Tara or Pam who had done it. It was Eric. Bill went down on the floor like a heavy sack, and then Eric was on top of him. I could see Eric's hands moving, and it occurred to me then that Eric was punching him. Bill was screaming loudly and Tara jumped over to me in fright.

"Oh my god," I yelled, grabbing Eric's arm, trying to pull him off. "Eric, stop!"

"How could you do that to her?" Eric was yelling savagely, and I saw blood on his fist. "She's the best woman in the world, and then you do that to her?"

I loved a man coming to my aid, but _really..._

"Just stop, Eric. You're making it worse. Stop, please!"

I grabbed his arm again, and this time, he let me pull him away. He was heaving and shaking with fury, staring down at Bill with such contempt it shook me.

"You knew how much I envied you for being in that position!" Eric kept up. "You swore to me you would treat her right! Then what did you go and do, you stupid fuck?"

"Eric, stop!" I pushed him away. "Bill, just leave."

Bill stood, wiping the blood off his chin. I felt terrible for him, but at the same time, I felt happy to see him in pain. It was terrible of me.

"She doesn't want you here," Eric went on, in an icy voice, once he composed himself. "If you ever talk to her again, or force her to listen to you, then I'll come after you."

With a shaking body, Bill stormed out. Tara was clutching onto Pam's arm for dear life.

"Are you all right?" I asked Eric nervously. I couldn't stop shaking, for the life of me.


End file.
